


don't forget to turn the lights out

by eyes_glued_shut



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Billford mentioned, Fluff, M/M, Sadness, Soulmates AU, bill gets punched twice, starts off with fluff but ends in sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-24 04:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9702578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eyes_glued_shut/pseuds/eyes_glued_shut
Summary: Bill and Dipper are soulmates, marked each by tattoos that only they share.But Bill shares other peoples tattoos, too.





	

**Author's Note:**

> AU where everyone is born with a very unique tattoo on their ankle. Every time you fall in love with someone their tattoo appears somewhere else on your body.  
> AU where every time you fall in love, a red tally mark appears on your wrist.  
> \---
> 
> also hi yeah this is for my friend for valentines day bc i am a great friend and he wanted some sad billdip and thats the only thing im good at <3

Being in love was the best thing Dipper felt. He was happy. He was happy and loved – by his soulmate. It took a while for him to accept the fact that Bill Cipher was his soulmate, but once he realized that Bill _had_ changed, he was happy. Mabel was jealous that Dipper found his soulmate so quickly, but he just brushed it off by saying he had an easy time finding people’s tattoos.  

Soulmates shared the same tattoo, and the day Dipper saw that Bill had a pine tree on his arm, he screamed. He knew it wasn’t a coincidence that he also had a triangle on his arm – the same place where his tattoo was on Bill.

He was so happy.

 

“Don’t forget to turn the lights out, Dip,” Bill would say as he got ready to leave. It was common for Bill to go out at night, saying he had some ‘demon’ things to tend to. (It confused Dipper, as Bill wasn’t technically a demon anymore.) Bill never wanted the light to be left on, but Dipper would always leave it on, just in case Bill came home early. That never happened. He would wake up the morning after with the light off and Bill lying next to him, like he had always been there.

In Dipper’s mind, Bill came first. Anything that he could do to make Bill happy, he would. He would do _anything_ for Bill. Mabel had said it was an obsession, and that Dipper needed to take a step back and break away from Bill, but Bill was his soulmate. He couldn’t leave his soulmate. The tattoos proved it, and Bill was his. He was Bill’s. And they were perfect. And nothing could break them.

 

Bill was out one night (for the third time this week), and Dipper and Mabel sat in the main room watching TV together. Mabel had suggested the idea that they should stay up and wait for Bill to get home. It was so late at night that it was just infomercials on repeat, and Dipper was getting bored of seeing pointless things being advertised on TV. He decided to close his eyes, assuming that Mabel would wake him up when Bill returned.

But she didn’t. When Dipper woke up, he was in bed, next to Bill, who was awake. Bill was reading a book, and Dipper couldn’t help but smile. Bill looked so… so… _handsome_ this early in the morning. His blond hair was messy, and he had to pause to push his glasses up on his nose every now and then. His freckles were a lot darker thanks to the sun, and he just looked perfect.

“Mornin’, babe,” Bill said softly, noticing Dipper was awake. He leaned down to kiss his forehead, and Dipper couldn’t help but smile widely. “I made you coffee. It might not be warm still…”

Dipper sat up and held the mug of coffee, and took a sip. It was still warm. “Thanks, Bill,” he mumbled, leaning his head against Bill’s shoulder. “What are you reading?”

Bill showed Dipper the cover of the book, _Lord of the Flies_ , before going back to reading. Dipper had seen Bill reading the book for days, but each time he was always at the beginning again.

“How many times have you read this?” Dipper asked, taking another sip of coffee and looking up at his lover. “I always see you with it.”

“This is my… tenth time reading it? I’m not sure. I lost count,” Bill replied, turning over the page. “I love it. It’s such a good book.”

“Who’s your favourite character?” Dipper had no idea what characters were in the book, but he just liked hearing Bill’s voice.

“Jack. I can relate to him,” Bill said as he turned to the next page. “You see, he had good ideas. He wanted to hunt on this island, whereas the others just wanted to make shelter and wait to be found. Jack hunted and went away from the group – made his own group, too. I think he’s the best.”

Dipper just nodded, and snuggled up closer to Bill. He closed his eyes and sighed in content. He was so happy, so in love. He watched as Bill flicked through the pages, finding a chapter he wanted to read. Dipper didn’t pay much attention anymore to what Bill was reading. He was just happy to be with him.

 

Dipper often yearned for a stereotypical relationship for him and Bill. He wanted cute dates and stupid selfies and pretty dinners and _everything._ Yet, Bill didn’t seem to want that. Bill didn’t even bother to plan out a date – everything just happens when Bill wants it to. If Bill wants to go out on a date, then they’ll go out on a date. Everything revolved around Bill, and Dipper was fine with that. He never liked being in the centre of attention, anyway.

They were eating breakfast later in the morning (Mabel had cooked omelettes), and Dipper began to notice that Bill was acting… odd. He first noticed something was up when Ford walked in. Normally, Bill would greet everyone with an overly cheerful “good morning”, but not today. Bill said nothing to Ford. Not even a look or a nod of the head.

The second thing he noticed about Bill was that he was sitting extremely close to Dipper that morning. Bill had always been affectionate, but this was a little extreme. It was almost like he was avoiding Ford – which was the third thing Dipper felt was off. Bill and Ford had always been close, but each morning they would make some stupid science joke that Dipper would try his hardest not to laugh at, but the room was too quiet this morning.

Mabel had seem to notice it, too, and she tried to get everyone to be happy and cheerful. But there was silence. Silence, followed by Ford leaving exactly four minutes before he normally left. (Dipper didn’t time whenever Ford left the kitchen, but he realized soon enough that his great uncle had a routine in the morning, and always left the kitchen at 8:29.)

The day began weirdly, and ended weirdly, too. Dipper spent his day talking to Ford about the book Bill was reading, and he began to overthink a lot of things. The character Bill liked was similar in the way Bill behaved – he wanted power, and so did Bill. It worried Dipper, but Ford reassured him and said that everyone has a favourite character, and that it doesn’t really say much about anyone.

Maybe Bill still had a craving for power.

 

The evening was odd, as Bill carried on being overly affectionate by kissing Dipper, a lot. It had started out as soon as Dipper came out of the bathroom. Bill had kissed him rather passionately, and soon the kissing turn from something mild to something a bit more hot and heated.

They eventually got to the bedroom, where things got a little more personal and private. Bill laid on the bed, with Dipper straddling his hips. Dipper’s shirt was thrown across the room, and he leaned down, placing kisses down Bill’s neck.

“Are you wearing makeup on your neck?” Dipper asked, pulling away and wiping his mouth. “Bill, you silly goose, makeup’s supposed to go on your face.” He laughed, placing a quick kiss on Bill’s lips.

Bill’s eyes widened as he felt Dipper get off of him and left the room. He came back a few moments later with a damp towel. He climbed back on Bill’s lap, ready to clean the makeup off of Bill’s neck.

“Wait, Dipper-” Bill started, but it was too late. Dipper was rubbing off the makeup and he froze.

“… Whose mark is this, Bill?” Dipper asked, his voice soft and quiet. He grabbed Bill’s wrist and saw so many tally marks. No. “Bill…”

“Dipper, I can explain, i-it’s not what it looks like,” Bill said quickly, pulling his arm back and holding Dipper tightly. “Please, it’s not how you think.”

“No. Bill, you… Is this what you do when you go out? You go and sleep with other people?” Dipper shouted, weakly punching at Bill’s shoulder. “Am I not good enough for you?”

“Babe, I can-”

“Don’t call me that. Take off your shirt, I-I want to see how many other people’s marks are on there,” Dipper demanded, and climbed off of Bill’s lap. Bill sat up. He watched as Bill took off his shirt, and if this were any other time he would be turned on. But not now, not ever again. Dipper’s eyes wandered over Bill’s chest and focused on one mark in particular.

“You slept with _Stanford?!”_ He screamed, hitting Bill’s chest, over the mark- the same mark Stanford had. “YOU SLEPT WITH MY GREAT UNCLE?! WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“Dipper, please calm down,” Bill said, trying to hold Dipper. “Let me explain.”

“What’s there to explain, huh? Bill, we were _soulmates!_ You can’t just sleep with other people!” Dipper was sobbing now, hitting Bill’s chest and cursing at him. There was a small knock at the door, and Mabel walked in.

“Uh, everything okay here?” Mabel asked, as Dipper turned to look at her, tears streaming down his face. “Oh my gosh, Dip…” She walked over to hug him tightly, as Bill sat there. “Is… everything okay?” Dipper sobbed into her shoulder.

“Don’t act all supportive, Mabel. You knew about this,” Bill said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You brought me makeup to hide the marks!”

Dipper’s eyes widened as he let go of Mabel. “Are you kidding me?” He glared at his sister. “You knew all along and didn’t tell me! What kind of sister are you?!”

“Dipper, he’s lying. I didn’t know it was for-” Mabel tried to explain her side of the story, but Dipper had left the room. He walked downstairs, drying his eyes and going into the kitchen. He needed to find the only person who _didn’t betray him._

Stan was sitting in the kitchen, eating a tub of ice cream and reading through a newspaper. He looked up when he saw Dipper sit beside him.

“Woah, buddy, you look terrible,” Stan said, pushing the ice cream tub in the middle of them and handing Dipper a spoon. “Does it have anything to do with the shouting from upstairs?”

Dipper nodded, taking the spoon and shoving a large spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. “Bill’s just… being an asshole.”

“A bigger asshole than normal?” Stan asked with a laugh, and Dipper looked away. He put his spoon down. “You can talk to me, kid, you know that, right?”

“I know… It’s just…” Dipper paused to take a deep breath. “Bill’s cheated on me, a-a lot… I can’t just kick him out because he’s my soulmate a-and I love him and-”

“Dipper, no,” Stan started, placing a hand on Dipper’s shoulder. “Heck, look at me, I’m pushing seventy and I can’t even remember who my soulmate is!” He laughed, which didn’t reassure Dipper that much. “You don’t need a soulmate to be happy. Bill’s a jerk, just let him go and forget about him.”

“That’s easier said than done, though,” Dipper mumbled, shoving another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth. “I know some of the people he cheated on me with a-and… it’s hard.”

“Who is it?” Stan asked, setting his newspaper down and frowning.

“One of them is Ford…” Dipper murmured, and Stan’s eyes widened. Someone else entered the kitchen, and Dipper looked down at his lap.

“Speak of the devil… Stanford, you got some explain’ to do,” Stan said, leaning back in the chair and crossing his arms over his chest. “First of all, why? Second of all, Bill? Seriously? No offence to either of you, but the kid’s a jerk.”

Ford’s face dropped, and he walked over to sit beside Dipper. “Dipper, please, I can explain myself. The marks only ever appear when you have physical contact with someone – Bill came home drunk one night, kissed me, and that was it.”

Stan frowned over at Ford, and Dipper just nodded. “How do we know you aren’t lyin’, huh?”

“How would you want me to prove it? I don’t feel like taking off my clothes to prove I don’t have Bill’s mark on me,” Ford said, glaring at his brother.

“It doesn’t matter. Bill’s dead to me. I don’t care who he slept with,” Dipper mumbled, pulling his knees to his chest. Stan stood up, messed up Dipper’s hair with a sad sigh before heading upstairs.

Once Stan had gone, Dipper ate some more ice cream and tried to think of other things instead of Bill. He couldn’t get his mind off of Bill. Bill and his perfect hair and his cute face and his amazing body and the way he moans – moaning loudly, moaning a name that isn’t Dippers.

Dipper didn’t realise he was crying until he heard Ford speak again.

“I’m sure there’s a way to fix you two,” Ford said, and Dipper just laughed. Ford was supposed to be smart, yet at that point in time Dipper thought that that was the dumbest thing Ford had ever said. “Look, I’m really sorry about everything. If it makes you feel any better, we didn’t do anything.”

Dipper ignored him. “I don’t know if I can trust you. Can… I at least see your arms to prove that you guys didn’t… do anything?”

Ford nodded, and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. Dipper frowned up at Ford when he saw _it._ He couldn’t believe it. He… He didn’t know what to do. There was a triangle on Ford’s arm, just above the elbow. Dipper couldn’t fully see it but he knew it was there. He knew it.

“You lied to me,” Dipper said, his voice breaking like he was going through puberty again. “Y-You two did something – don’t lie to me!”

“Dipper, we didn’t, I promise you,” Ford reassured, but Dipper stood up. The chair fell back as he stormed out of the kitchen.

 

Meanwhile, upstairs, Mabel was shouting at Bill for lying to Dipper yet again. She had thrown anything she could find at Bill, and didn’t even realise Stan was standing in the doorway until Bill spoke.

“Heya, Stanley!” Bill said, as if he wasn’t going to get yelled at. Stan didn’t like him – Stan never liked Bill. He just pretended to so it would make Dipper happy.

 

Stan walked to where Bill was standing, with a stupid smug grin on his face. Stan didn’t even hesitate as he punched Bill square in the face. Time seemed to stand still as Bill stood there, holding his nose. What the hell? He turned to face Stan, who was glaring at him.

“Get the hell out of my house, Cipher.”

Bill looked over at Mabel for help, but she was looking at the floor, ignoring Bill. He clenched and unclenched his fists, before smiling. He nodded once, and walked around Stan to leave. He wiped the blood away from his nose, grabbed a jacket that was close by and left the room.

He walked down the stairs quickly, just as he saw Dipper leave. Huh. Did Stan kick Dipper out too? No, that would never happen. He put on his jacket, and felt someone push him against the wall.

“Alright, jeez, I’m leaving,” he said annoyed, and frowned when he noticed it was Ford who pushed him. “Oh, hey! Wanna run away with me-”

He was hit with another punch. Fuck. Bill frowned, now rubbing his eye.

“I hope you’re happy, Bill. You’ve destroyed Dipper,” Ford snapped, taking a step back. “Leave this family alone.”

Bill wiped his nose again and glared at Ford. Stan and Mabel soon came downstairs, and Bill decided that it was best to leave. His things were still upstairs, but he didn’t care anymore.

Dipper walked in, and before Bill could say anything, he spoke.

“Jack isn’t the best character. I should’ve known something was wrong with you then,” Dipper said, and Bill looked at him confused. “Oh don’t play stupid. You know what I’m talking about.”

“I really don’t,” Bill laughed awkwardly. “Care to explain? And make it quick, I have the feeling that I’m not welcome here anymore.”

“You were reading _Lord of the Flies_ a few weeks ago, and said that Jack was the best character. That’s a lie. He was the worst. Just like you, I suppose,” Dipper said, stepping to the side to let Bill leave. “Maybe you think Jack’s the best character because he is similar to you – a horrible person.”

Bill didn’t know how to reply to that. He stood there for a few moments, before feeling someone push him lightly towards the door. He looked back and saw Stan glaring at him, and Bill sighed. He didn’t want to get punched anymore, so he walked to the front door and left.

 

Silence filled the house. It lasted a while until Dipper started to sob. Everyone hugged him.

 

Weeks had passed since the Bill incident, and it was taking a lot longer than Dipper had thought to get over Bill. He hadn’t fully forgave Ford yet, but he was getting there. He just needed more time.

He stopped looking at the stars, and decided to go to bed. It was weird without Bill in his life anymore, especially at night. Whenever Bill was around, they would cuddle together and Dipper would feel safe and warm in Bill’s arms.

He sat on the bed, getting used to how cold and uninviting it looked each night. He would have to pretend Bill left to go out, and that put his mind at ease.

  _Don’t forget to turn the lights out,_ he imagined Bill would say. And for the first time in three years, Dipper turned off the lights.

**Author's Note:**

> also soz i linked bill as jack merridew from lord of the flies i lowkey liked that book so yeah i saw a few similarities idk


End file.
